Book an aircraft

The schedule shows one day at a time, with a column for each aircraft. Drag down an empty stretch of a column to book it.

1. Open Schedule. Use the arrows beside Today, or the calendar in the left panel, to go to the day you want.
2. Drag down the aircraft’s column from your start time to your end time. A single click starts a booking of the hangar’s default length where you clicked.
3. The New booking box opens. Check Aircraft and Time, and pick or type a Type (Local VFR, Dual, Cross-country…). Note is for the route, the instructor, or anything else.
4. Press Save. The booking appears in the column, and a message at the bottom of the screen confirms it.

The Book button at the top right does the same thing without dragging: it opens New booking on the first column, and you set the aircraft and times in the box.

RampMates emails you a confirmation with a calendar invitation for every booking. See Your bookings in your calendar.

On a phone

The phone shows one aircraft at a time. Swipe left or right on the day, or tap a tail number in the row at the top, to change aircraft; tap a day in the week strip, or the month name for a calendar, to change days. Press and hold on open time until a dashed block appears, drag its top or bottom edge to adjust it, press the Book button beside it, then Save. The + at the top right opens New booking without the long press.

Reading the day

• Each booking is a colored block with the pilot’s name, the type and the times. The red line is now.
• Faint diagonal lines mark time outside the aircraft’s own hours of operation.
• An orange hatched block is maintenance. See Maintenance blocks.
• The chips under a tail number show the weather category at its station (VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR), SBY when members are on standby for it, and MX until a time, or DOWN, while it’s in maintenance right now.
• The left panel turns aircraft columns on and off. Show overnight shows all 24 hours instead of the hangar’s operating hours.
• Search dims every booking that doesn’t match what you type.

You see every aircraft in the hangar, but you can only book the ones you’re allowed to fly. See Seeing an aircraft vs. flying it.

Booking for someone else (admins)

A hangar admin gets a Pilot list in New booking. Pick the member the booking is for; they get the confirmation email. An admin also gets an Override field for booking past a rule. See Booking rules.

Booking any aircraft of a type

When your hangar groups its aircraft by type, the Aircraft list also offers Any C172 (or whichever type codes your fleet has). Depending on how your admin has set it up, RampMates either picks a free aircraft of that type for you straight away, or keeps the booking on the type until an admin assigns one. An admin assigns it by pressing the booking in the type’s column, choosing a tail number in the Aircraft list, and pressing Assign.

Keyboard

On a computer: N new booking, T today, ← and → change days, / jumps to search, Esc closes the box.

If something goes wrong

The column won’t let you drag over time that’s taken. When RampMates refuses a booking, the reason shows under Time and the box stays open. The ones people hit most:

• “This overlaps another reservation.” Someone has that time. Pick another time, or join standby for it.
• “Bookings need at least … hours’ notice.” or “Bookings can’t be made more than … days ahead.” Your hangar limits how soon and how far ahead you can book.
• “You already have … open reservations, the most allowed.” or “This would put you over your …-hour weekly limit.” Cancel a booking you no longer need, or ask an admin.
• “This falls outside the hangar’s hours of operation.” The aircraft isn’t available then. An admin sets its hours in Aircraft settings.
• “No C172 is free for that time. Try another time, or add a standby request.” (with your fleet’s type code) You booked Any of a type and every aircraft of that type is taken then.

A hangar admin can book past most of these by typing a reason in Override. An overlap, time outside the aircraft’s hours, and a start in the past can’t be overridden. The full list is in Booking rules.